Beware of the Golden Light
by silent seabreeze
Summary: The School is hiding something and yet keeping it in plain view. What happens when the flock meet another like themselves and yet horribly different? And what happenes when nightmares become reality?
1. Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares

**Author's note: Right, this idea came to me in a split second, bearing a large wooden mallet and demanded to be written. What could I do?**

**Yes, I know this has probably been done before, but I don't care. I like the idea and anyway, you don't know what she is yet. **

**If you have any problems/questions/encouragement/screaming fits that you'd like to direct at me, then please REVIEW. Seriously, I love 'em. I have no life, you see.**

**Disclaimer: I would love to own this story, but sadly I don't. **

**Prologue: Dreams and Nightmares**

You know, I never asked to be born.

Really, if I had known what it was like to be alive I would have curled up and…died, if that's possible, considering you haven't been born yet.

Some people would go "Wow, you're so lucky!" if they saw me. They would just see the outside, the looks, the oddities, the powers. They wouldn't bother to try to see what I was like on the inside and I don't blame them; it's not pretty.

Most of the 'experiments' are 2 animal, the rest is human.

Not me. That 2 belongs to the _human_ part of me. The rest…well, the rest is pretty mind-blowing and not something I'll go into now.

You know, when the bird-experiments escaped, I thought we had a chance. They spent years avoiding capture and with each day that they remained absent, I built up a little crumb of hope. Maybe they would evade capture forever, maybe they would find someone to tell and then they would come here, to the School and rescue us and then we would go away and find families to live with, _proper _families, who would love us and protect us and we would never have to be scared again.

It's a nice daydream, isn't it?

Hey, for me dreams are infinitely preferable to reality. You can control them, you see. Dreams are whatever you want them to be and, for the most part, they are nice.

I even like the nightmares, because nothing can be scarier than me. What I am. What I could become.

But we'll get off that lovely subject, shall we? Because I think that if I think about that again, another incident might occur. I still have the marks from the last one, and that was over a year ago now.

So we'll steer clear of the topic of me. That's something I do a lot anyway. _Ask no questions, I'll tell thee no lies. _

So, anyway, back to the escapees.

It a few years later that they brought one of them back. Subject Eleven, they called her. Not even a her, just an 'it'. But she did have a name. Angel. Cruelly, I found myself thinking 'the Angel Experiment'. It has a nice ring to it.

Hey, I couldn't help the kid, much as I wanted to. Anyway, there were people coming soon to save her, I was sure of that.

Hey, what did I tell you about questions? You know what they say _Curiosity killed the cat_.

And curiosity is very dangerous, I should know.

The cage is so cramped. I have to crouch as low as I can to fit in. Every so often, whitecoats walk past me to other cages and other subjects. They skirt round me and try not to look. My reputation precedes me; they don't want a repeat of the Incident.

That's right Incident with a capital 'I'.

I said I was sorry, what more do they want? I wasn't in control at the time. Anyway, it was his fault. He started it.

Well anyway, I was there when they brought the rest of them in. I admit, as I saw them, my hopes crumbled, until that finely gathered wall of it was nothing but dust.

There were five of them, not counting the kid. They were dirty and tired, I could tell. The eldest girl appeared to be the leader. Max, Maximum Ride. She was taken off a little later, to talk to Jeb. I know that guy well, he was a huge softie until he disappeared. When he came back, he had changed. Don't ask me how, I could just sense it. He was _different. _

But he was one of the better ones. Always gave me hot chocolate when I went to see him. With marshmallows. Don't ask me how that could appeal, especially after you've drunk all of the chocolate and the marshmallow mush is left at the bottom for you to scrape away wit your finger. It just does.

Anyway, what was I saying before I got side-tracked by melted marshmallows?

Oh yeah, Jeb and Max.

So anyway, a couple hours after they arrived, they escaped again and pretty spectacularly, I can tell you. Some large birds helped out and they got the kid away too.

Shame, I was beginning to like her.

Well, it was after they escaped that I effected my own escape attempt as well. And, if I say it myself, it was as spectacular as theirs, just in a different way.

**So, what do you think. Like it? Hate it? Think I should continue? Or not?**

**REVIEW and tell me. **


	2. Fear and Freedom

**Author's Note: Okay, I know this is short, but I hope the content will make up for that. I should be updating soon, though I am getting back late ever night this evening, so it depends on how tires I am.**

**But here is the story and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: If you think that I am James Patterson, then I am greatly flattered,but would be obliged to tell you to seek medical help. It is not mine, none of it.**

Fear and Freedom

The thing about flying is that you really have to get the right weather. If it's raining you're screwed. Likewise with windy weather. Sun is very good, as is a light breeze, but on the whole, if you're flying in conditions that aren't favourable, then you kinda have no chance whatsoever of being able to fly.

As was illustrated now.

The wind tugged at her hair and pulled at her clothes. It was growing stronger. Soon, they would have to land, it was madness trying to fly in this weather. She gritted her teeth and tried to focus on moving her wings up and down.

But then, her lovely Voice decided it wanted a chat.

_No need to rush, Maximum. Patience is a virtue_.

"Yeah?" she hissed quietly "Well we don't have a lot of time for patience."

But, it seemed the Voice had given out enough pearls of wisdom for today and so she heard nothing back.

She turned her head to check how the flock were doing. Fang and Iggy were having not rouble, but the younger kids, Angel especially, were having real difficulty in flying.

She made her decision.

"OK guys, down!" she yelled, waving her arms in and gestured to the ground in case they couldn't hear her over the roar of the wind.

Miraculously, they saw (or heard) and soon, all of them were crouched behind the massive trees, that made up the large, dark forest they had landed in.

Yes, I know, so cliché; large dark, spooky forest, filled with whisperings and sighs. It's exactly what crossed her mind as she looked around, sighing. Because she did so enjoy sleeping rough. In a forest. In a pine forest. With lots of sharp needles.

Nudge, on the other hand, seemed thrilled by their choice of camp.

"Oh, this is so cool. It's, like, a room, only outdoors. Hey, maybe later, we can have a campfire and toast some marshmallows and, like, tell ghost stories and stuff. I mean, not really scary ones, right. There was this _really_ scary one I found on the Net, about this girl and she bought this doll and then-"

"Nudge." Iggy said, in that loveably tolerant and affectionate tone he has "Shut it."

They'd had a long day.

The camp that night was cold, dark and scary. Not being the kind of person who usually noticed stuff like that, Max was too tense and alert all night to fall asleep. She almost jumped five foot in the air every time a twig cracked, or an animal moved.

The fire had died down into a low glow, though still giving off a fierce heat. She turned over and tried to relax. She clenched her fists beneath the makeshift pillow as the fire spat out a spark.

Suddenly, she heard a rushing, whooshing sound and the sound of a person whispering (those who watch Lost, who know what I mean). She jacknifed upright and looked around. No-one seemed to be there. She lay down again slowly, but shot upright a moment later _There it was again! _That freaky whispering.

She peered around in the darkness, shivering. A pale form seemed to, erm, form over the glowing embers of the fire. It had the vague shape of a girl, a human girl about sixteen years old. Her features were blurry and unclear, bt what could have been a mouth opened.

Then, the face and features sharpened suddenly and when Max saw the face above the fire, she screamed. And, as the blackness welled over her, she still screamed. She didn't stop screaming, until the darkness was absolute, the thick blanket covering her entirely, muffling her screams and she could not see it any more.

Only then, she did she stop screaming.

0o0o0o0o0o0

To be honest, the actual escape attempt wasn't that hard. When you're a teenage mutant freak who's only 2 percent human, you tend to find that things like that come a lot easier. I suppose being part cat helps.

So, cage open, whitecoat…taken care of, cameras smashed. Now which way to go?

It's a rather funny situation, actually. There I am, free, properly free, for the first time in my life and I don't know where to go.

I opted for out of the lab. It seemed the safest option.

So, now I was in a long, white corridor (what is it with these people? What is this thing they seem to have with white? I mean, I like white, white is a great colour, but it does kinda hurt your eyes after a while)

I had to pause, calm down. A brief flash of gold across my vision told me all I needed to know. It was only a twist, a quick glint, snaking across my eyes like it was really there, but I knew what it meant. I took a few seconds to cam down and send m heartbeat and breathing back to normal and then I was off.

Down the corridor, a quick right, then another right, then a left, skip the next three rights and take the fourth one and then from that, it was left all the way.

It was going well, until I ran into the hunting party.

A gang of Erasers, about twelve of them, and two whitecoats. They were obviously arguing about something, I should have heard their voice from a mile away.

But I didn't.

Surprise is the only advantage you have in this kind of situation and I used it well (I

also tend to have a few second's head-start on anyone else due to my face).

I sent the first three Erasers flying with a flurry of punches and kicked one of the whitecoat's feet out from underneath him. Spinning around, I jammed an elbow into the other's nose and kicked him…well, it would be fair to say that he won't be walking anytime soon.

By then, of course, alarm bells were ringing and I had to get out of there. But I was blocked by about nine snarling Erasers, all of whom were holding a gun.

I sighed and did what I had to do. I you were me, you would've done the same.

Here are the facts:

When the guards arrived at the scene, they found all who had met the escaping Subject One, dead on the floor. One of the whitecoats was still alive, but all he could talk about was a streaming golden light inside _her. _He died before he could say anything else.

There had been two whitecoats and twelve Erasers and they were all dead, shot, it was later discovered. But the most perplexing thing was; they all seemed to have shot themselves. The tests confirmed that all the Erasers had raised their own gun to heir own head and fired.

And now, Subject One was free.

It was a full-scale search. Subject One was the first Experiment to survive past infancy. It had grown abnormally fast and displayed unusual intelligence levels. By rights, it should have just _died._

But it didn't and they soon found out how dangerous it was. After the Incident, it had been placed in a secure cage in a high security room, with an Eraser at the door.

And still, it had escaped.

And now they were scared, very, very scared.

**Now you have read, please review 'cause I love 'em. **


	3. Memories Lost and Knowledge Gained

**Author's Note: Well, here I am fresh from a visit to Cadbury World and bearing a large bag of chocolate! -hands out choccylit to reviewers-**

**Now, this chappyter is not my best (my best always seems to be my first one, no idea why) but I am still rather proud of it. Reviews are what keeps this story going. no reviews equals no chapters, you have been warned.**

**Discalimer: Since I'm twelve, female and live in England, I think the chance of me being James Patterson are very slim. Therefore, I do not own Max Ride, I am merely...borrowing the characters for a short while**

**Memories Lost and Knowledge Gained**

You know, running for your life in the darkness is much harder than running for your life in the daylight.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Seriously. Nine Erasers with guns? No biggie.

A tree in my way? Broken nose.

So rubbing my bloody and sore nose, I ran on through the darkness, the sounds of the Erasers pursuing me growing louder. I gritted my teeth and tried to keep to my 'normal' pace i.e. No genetic mutations.

Then, another sound joined the ones of my pursuers. It was the sound of baying wolves, of roaring tigers, of snarling dogs. My mind burst into a frenzy of panic. Dozens of questions burst into my mind (along with twenty-four possible answers to each one, sixteen resulting hypotheses and counter-theorems, eight abstract speculations, a quadrilateral equation, two axioms, a limerick and several swear words in fourteen different languages. That's raw intelligence for you)

Biting back all these frankly astounding thoughts, I tried to concentrate on getting _away_ from the sounds. They were getting closer. Obviously, these new…experiments were very fast.

A sudden thought occurred to me, one that made me stop in my tracks for a split second. The cries were right behind me and as I realized this, I was also struck between the eyes by a sudden 'Duh!' thought bearing a large mallet.

As they came panting up behind me, I unfurled my wings and launched myself into the air. Not very easy from a standing start but hey, I'm perfect. (Note the sarcasm in that sentence)

And so, when I thought I was truly safe, a little voice sounded behind me.

"Goodnight, Taya."

_Shit._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Max? _Max?!"_

Her eyes were sore and stinging, her senses strangely perceptive. She could smell smoke and burning; the acrid smell of singing hair and the earthy smell of damp soil. She could hear the crackling and spitting of flames, the quiet hiss and splash of dousing water. The ground felt hard and dry, her fingers brushing the soil and pine needles away from underneath her. She could taste salt on her lips; with a jolt of surprise she realized that it was the taste of her tears. Her mouth felt like she had eaten a lit barbecue; hot and dry and with a smoky taste. She shifted and groaned slightly.

"Max?" the voice sounded small and scared; she wondered who they were talking to. Who was Max?

_You are, _she jumped as a Voice began to speak _inside her own head. You are Maximum Ride and it is time to wake up. _She frowned slightly as a faint memory drifted to her. Yes, she did think her name was Max and yes, she _did_ have a Voice that spoke inside her head. Maybe it was her conscience. For some reason she began to giggle.

"Max, wake up." It was that voice again, not the one inside her head, the other one, the one that was speaking to…her? Yes, her.

She opened her eyes. She was lying in a clearing, in a forest. The grass was burned and blackened, the trees smoking. In some places, the flames still smouldered. Oh, that was interesting, there had been a fire. Hang on, fire? Another memory niggled at the back of her mind, something insistent and annoyingly important; a memory that she had to remember.

And if you don't think there's something wrong with that sentence, you should read it again.

"_Max_." She now looked at the person who was speaking. It was a little girl of about six. Her hair was curly and golden, her eyes big and blue and (right now) filled with fear. Max wondered how she knew her name.

"Max?" Now her voice was tiny and scared "Why don't you remember me?"

She jumped, how did she know what she was thinking? Could she read minds? That thought made her giggle again.

Now the girl seemed angry "Yes I can Max! It's me! It's Angel! Wake up! Please remember!"

She shook her head. "Yes," she said slowly "I can remember you. You're called Angel. You…you have wings, don't you?"

Before Angel could answer, another voice came over to them "Angel? Where are you? Have you found her?"

Angel considered "I'm over here!" she called "And…yes, I've found Max." she added, glancing at the girl lying on the ground amid the ruin.

The rest of the Flock were there in a matter of seconds, Fang arriving first. When he saw the form on the ground, his eyes widened slightly, but when she sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs and looking up at him curiously, he staggered backward, "Max?"

She put her head on one side "Yes?"

"What _happened _to you?"

The Gasman and Nudge were there and staring at her. But it was Iggy's whose was the most shocking reaction. He came carefully, hands outstretched and brushing the tree-trunks with the tips of his fingers. But when he reached Max and the others, he stopped dead, choking and staring at where Max was. He pointed a shaking finger at her, her golden eyes staring at him curiously, her body glowing with that creepy golden light.

"_I can see her!_" he whispered.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I wheeled around in the sky to face him. He was as cocky as ever, except now, he seemed to have wings as well. Which was bad, very bad.

"Ari," I replied evenly (see, even in a crisis, I can be polite and controlled) "What brings you out here on this fine evening?" These calm words masked my thoughts, which at that moment were running along the lines of _Shit, this is bad, how did he find me? How has he got wings? Oh damn, damn, damn._

He shrugged "Oh, you know, the usual. Hunting the bird-kids. But then I got called to come and find _you_. They seem to be worried about you escaping. Can't imagine why."

I nodded "Imagine that." I commented, edging around him discreetly.

"And you can stop that," he said, gesturing toward me "You can't escape."

I looked at him innocently, while my thoughts diverted into an _Okay, fine, can't escape…he must have something up his sleeve_ route.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I informed him. To my concern, he chuckled. Well, he seemed a lot more cheerful since our last meeting. But, hey, if _you_ saw someone with green hair, you would laugh too, wouldn't you?

"Well, I'll just take you back to School now, nice and quietly," he said "It's against the law to skip."

Oh, wasn't he the smart one?

"That's real sweet of you," I said "But I've decided to give up. I don't think they're stretching me enough."

His smile widened "Well, we'll just have to find you a special teacher then, won't we?"

By this time, I had had enough "Tell thanks, but no thanks, I'm going elsewhere."

And with that, I launched myself at him, taking him by surprise and slashing through his wings. He began to drop to the ground.

I sped away, flying as fast as I could. I knew from experience that that would not keep him for long.

How right I was.

It was perhaps five minutes before I felt a searing pain through my right shoulder. I glanced behind me to see him. He was holding a shotgun, pointing it at my shoulder.

Before I could do anything, something hit me, hard.

I fell, my mind a whirling vortex of thoughts and emotions. Foremost of these was surprise. My last thought before hitting the ground was _What?!_

Intelligent, huh?

**-Gasp- What has happened to Max? Why can't she remember anything? How come Iggy can see her? What is Taya and how does she know Ari? Is she going to die? Will Tess stop leaving so many cliff-hangers?**

**Heh, probably not. Though I know cliff-hangers are very annoying, so I will try to post the next chapter soon, to avoid any more innocent tables being hurt**

**And now REVIEW**


	4. Words and Wounds

**Author's Note: -shouts exuberantly- I'M BA-A-ACK! Missed me? **

**Yeah, I know I have abandoned this story for a long _loooong _time, but I had to focus on other things, like the little note at the end of the last chapter said. But, I have started to get back into Fanfiction after a long absence and so here I am. **

**This chapter is short, I know, but I really can't add or change any of it. **

**And yeah, I know I've left another little cliffie. But that's what I do. **

**Enjoy**

**Disclaimer: See previous chapters **

I came to with a groan. I could feel the prickle of something beneath me; something soft and painful. The smell of pine sap pierced the air; sweet and sharp.

Aw, dang, these would take ages to get out.

I now had regained enough consciousness to realise that I was flat on my back in the middle of a large, dark, creepy pine forest. I seemed to be injured in my right shoulder and my face was telling me that it had quit and was going to sue for damages. I could also very possibly be drooling out the left corner of my mouth.

I sat quickly, then regretted it as my head seemed to suddenly become very dizzy. I shook it a couple times and it seemed to settle down. I took stock of my situation

I was injured. I thought that that should be the top thing on my priorities list, seeing as it hurt so much.

Ari had managed to inflict above injury. How embarrassing.

I was not in the School. Strange. Freedom. _That_ would take some getting used to.

I was hungry

After listing the above in my head, I got bored and stood up _very_ slowly. Red blood leaked from the wound in my shoulder and I sighed resignedly. I would have to attend to priority number 1 before any of the others.

I had to come up with a plan. Given my highly superior intellect, I wouldn't take long to come up with a brilliant, foolproof, watertight plan.

I stood for a few minutes, hit myself on the head a couple of times, shook said part of body vigorously another couple of times, then strode off, swearing angrily at myself under my breath.

Wandering aimlessly through the woods it would have to be, then.

* * *

The entire clearing was quiet. Iggy's bombshell hung in the still air. Max cocked her head on one side and smiled eerily. Angel shook her head slowly and Nudge drew close to Fang, who stared at Iggy.

The Gasman, however, grinned suddenly; delightedly.

"Y'mean, you can actually _see_ her?" he asked, incredulously "Wow. Hey!" He danced in to the aura of golden light that surrounded Max. " Can you see me too?"

Iggy's eyes opened wider and wider and wider. He staggered backward and sat heavily on the ground, breathing heavily, still staring at where The Gasman stood beside Max.

"_Yeah_," he said, weakly.

* * *

See, the thing about big, dark, scary woods is that you get lost like _that_. Most people think _Yeah, ok, whatever. You just walk from one tree to the next in a straight line and you'll be fine. _But really, it's not that simple. It's like those trees get into your head or something, and they crowd around you, cutting off any exit route until you wander round and round, in circles looking for yourself.

It's a pretty mystical experience, actually.

But I wasn't really concentrating on that right now. I had to get something that would stop me bleeding _soon_, or I would probably die. Which, you know, would be pretty disastrous.

Truth be told, I was a little freaked by the whole, experience. Firstly, just being _free_ made the hairs rise up on my arms. It was like…oh, I don't know…like you'd feel when school is finished and your on the first week of your vacation, only you've been in school your entire life and never had a vacation before.

Something like that.

Also, I was worried by the amount of blood I was losing. Normally, I have his really fast healing rate and I don't really want my blood smeared all over the forest anyway. It's kinda…well…strange. I mean, it's not red. It's grey, mainly, with just a hint of black, red and gold mixed in, like a marbled pattern. Sorta pretty really, if you're sick like that.

So, as you can imagine, it was with a mixture of relief, apprehension and pure, gut hunger (I hadn't eaten in _days_) that I smelt the smoke.

It had a sort of barbecuey smell to it. Not that I had ever smelt one, you understand, but I had heard he whiteocats thinking about it.

Yeah, you heard that right.

I think I must've stumbled in at a bad time, because I could see a group of kids all standing pretty still. This, y'know, is odd, 'cause they don't have a tendency to stand still at all.

I then came around a tree and was able to see the group better. The eldest (a boy with dark hair and olive skin) seemed to be about fourteen. The youngest was an angelic-looking girl of six. They all looked oddly familiar, but due to this unsettling _sucking _sensation at the back of my mind as I moved closer to them, I really couldn't place them at all.

Then I took a good hard look at the girl sitting on the ground. Until then, a young-ish boy of great happiness had been shielding my view of her.

But the he moved.

Oh _damn. _

I recognised that light. And it was not good, let me tell you. Not good at all.

**So, please review.**

**Oh and has anyone read a book called _Twilight,_ by Stephanie Meyer, or the sequel, _New Moon_? I slightly addicted to them and was just wondering if anyone else had read them. **

**Oh, and review. **


	5. Meetings and Greetings

**Author's Note: So here is the next chapter in all its strangeness. I don't really like it and I don't think it's all that good, but hey, you are your own worst critic. **

**Oh and please review, or I might be forced to set my flying-monkey-clones on you. **

**Disclaimer: See previous chaps. **

**Meetings and Greetings **

I stood stock still. Anything gold, to me, is like a red cape to a bull. It has the property of making me lose control and I really _didn't_ want to lose control right then.

Unhappily, the eldest boy had sensed me. He whipped around, with an expression of pure anger on his face. It was pretty damn scary. They all had their wings out and I suddenly placed them.

"Oh it's _you_." I started to laugh weakly. Don't ask me why, I just had this sudden, hysterical urge to laugh.

He just stared at me. It bugged me a little, until I actually realised the reason for the staring. I grinned and held out my hand "Name's Taya. Nice to meet you." I winced. Stupidly, I had stuck out my right hand.

They all seemed a little stunned and I don't blame them. The whole 'shiny and mystical golden aura of light' would've been enough to show anyone that something weird was going on.

I withdrew my hand and rubbed my face with the other one. The staring was enough to make me feel self-conscious if I had been that type of person.

As it was, I just felt a little awkward.

"Hey, Taya," I looked at who had spoken. It was the glowing one; I grasped at my memory for her name. It was weird. They had been stuck in the room next to me for at least a day; I should remember at least their names.

"Mel…Min-no, erm, Minimum? Maximum; _MAX!" _My thought process was not usually this slow. It was disconcerting.

I sighed. "Okay, I propose a swap. I turn Max back to normal and I get some food and bandages. Fair? Good. That's settled." I strode forward without waiting for an answer. They flinched away, stunned, so they really didn't have time to stop me from grabbing Max's arm.

It took care of itself from there, really. I would explain but, well a: It's complicated and b: I really can't be bothered to go into _that _long story right now. I'll just say it's something to do with cell imbalance and species reproduction for the moment and maybe I'll go into it in a bit more depth later.

_Anyway_, when I grabbed the girl –Max-, we both gave this great, shuddering gasp and the golden light disappeared abruptly. She blinked and I sat down next to her.

Well, I say _sat_, I really mean _collapsed. _

* * *

They had put her on some old blankets by the re-kindled fire. Max had ripped up some old shirts and cleaned and bound the wound. No-one commented on the girl's blood colour, nor did they talk about who she was or where she had come from. They were all oddly silent. 

Nudge had taken the Gasman and Angel off to look for wood and Iggy was sitting with his back to a tree, his eyes closed and looking for all the world like he was asleep. Only the Flock would know otherwise.

Fang was crouched by the fire, staring intently into the small, flickering flames. He hadn't tried to talk to Max yet. He knew she would want to be left alone.

As for Max herself, she was sitting next to Taya, watching the other girl's inert body, but not really looking at it. It was like she was looking _past _it, into the dark trees beyond.

She struggling to come to terms with recent events. At the back of her minds was Jeb's insistence that all this was really a test. Maybe this was really the latest in a long series of 'tests'.

Or maybe she had just gone mad. It was possible.

All she could remember was a warm, glowing sensation; it was not physical, like sitting next to a fire (she stirred the flames, making them hiss and spark) but more…_emotional_. It was the feeling she connected with being part of a family; of belonging.

And then, when Taya had touched her, this feeling was sucked out of her like water down a plughole, or dust into a vacuum cleaner. It was like a spell had been lifted from her and she could suddenly see and think clearly again.

She glanced down at the unconscious girl, quashing her repulsion at her appearance. She studied her, taking in the rise and fall of her chest, the flicking of eyes behind the closed lids and the muttering as the girl dreamed.

Taya was...well, she was _wrong_, there was no other way to describe her.

Her skin was white. Completely white, all over, with not a trace of pink at all. It was translucent as well, so you could see clearly the blue veins tracing her arms, neck and wrists. In this respect, she bore a startling resemblance to a vampire.

Her face, however, told a completely different story.

Here, the skin was a mottled red, blue and brown, her cheek seeming to be scorched and burnt; like she had survived a fire. Her lips were thin and pale, but seemed to be only just covering her teeth; like the way a mouth looks with braces…full somehow.

Her nose was long and straight and above that were her eyes; they were perfectly almond-shaped; like a cat's. Max hadn't seen her actual eyes, so she didn't know what colour her pupils were, heck, even if she had any.

The things that grabbed your attention, that drew your eyes and held them there, were her ears.

They were a cat's.

Instead of fur, they were covered in fine, semi-transparent skin. They flicked as a sharp breeze blow through them; exactly as a cat's would.

Max looked away from that face, as Fang stirred, opposite her. She glanced up to see him looking at her, holding her gaze with his own piercing one.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice controlled and calm.

"No," she replied. "I-"

She was interrupted by the arrival of Nudge, the Gasman and Angel, all of whom carried a pile of twigs and branches. They set them quietly down by the fire and sat down. Iggy, hearing their arrival stood and joined them. They all sat around the fire, gazing into the flames, each immersed in their own thoughts.

" Max?" It was Angel, sitting next to her and gazing up at her with her wide, trusting blue eyes.

"Yeah sweetie?" Max's voice was husky, like she had been screaming for hours,

"She's from the School. Just thought you should know. She was in the room next to us when we…" Angel swallowed. Max's hands formed involuntary fists at the thought of The School.

"…when we were there…last. I can tell, 'cause that's how she recognised us. She could, like, hear us. Our thoughts," she added.

Max raised her eyebrows. "What, like you can?" she asked Angel.

"No," Angel shook her head.

"I've only ever been able to read thoughts once," a voice interrupted. All our heads whipped around to stare at Taya, now awake, staring at us with the eyes of a cat; slit pupils and no whites. She grinned at us, showing her teeth to be pointed and discoloured "And that was when I was near you."

* * *

I had to hand it to them; they knew how to hide their feelings. They all looked down at me (I was lying on the ground and they were sitting. An uncomfortable position, especially when the ground in question is hard and you have somehow rolled over to lie on your hurt shoulder.) 

I wasn't lying either. When the kid –Angel- had been brought in, I suddenly developed this talent for reading minds. It wasn't that good, truth be told. Generally, the thoughts were fuzzy, like an out-of-tune radio and so I couldn't actually make out much of the thoughts that had poured into my head and privacy.

It had faded and just after these bird-kids had gotten free, it had disappeared completely. I hadn't given it much thought at the time. I had merely assumed it was a sign that I was going to die soon and had accepted this fate. I only now realised the significance of that episode.

I could see they were all regarding me with guarded, hostile expressions and smiled grimly to myself, sitting up stiffly and meeting their gazes squarely.

Let the questioning begin.

**As I say, not exactly my best but hey, it moves the story along. **


End file.
